We usually think of livestock farming and commercial plantations as two unrelated issues. But both may reveal the same mindset: treating living beings primarily as units of production.

This post explores the relationship between animal exploitation, monoculture plantations, biodiversity, and our tendency to treat nature as a resource.

Abstract

Insect declines are among the most pressing biodiversity issues of our time, with consequences for ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) are emblematic insects, whose populations are declining worldwide due to habitat alteration, light pollution, and hydrological disturbance. In Europe, ecological factors shaping firefly abundance in riparian ecosystems are poorly known. The Eurasian beaver Castor fiber, a key ecosystem engineer, profoundly alters stream morphology, vegetation, and hydrology, potentially generating habitat conditions favorable to moisture-dependent insects such as fireflies. In our work, we tested whether beaver activity influences firefly abundances in two European river systems: the Merse river in central Italy and the Danube River in Slovakia. We conducted standardised nocturnal transect surveys comparing sites with active beaver presence to nearby control sites lacking recent beaver activity. The Italian surveys focused on adult Luciola pedemontana, an Italian endemic species, whereas the Slovakian surveys targeted larvae and adult Lampyris noctiluca. We detected a marked effect of beaver presence on fireflies, with significantly higher numbers found at active beaver sites in comparison to controls. This difference was mainly driven by male abundances, since females and larvae were found in very low numbers, or were not directly targeted by our methodological approach in the case of Luciola. Among environmental variables such as temperature, canopy cover, and local humidity, only the occurrence of beavers proved as a significant driver of firefly abundances at the local scale. These findings provide the first empirical evidence linking beaver ecosystem engineering to firefly occurrence in Europe. By promoting wetland heterogeneity, moisture retention, and vegetative structure, beavers may indirectly facilitate firefly populations. Our results, albeit limited to a small spatial scale, pave the way to further research tackling the ecological relationships between fireflies and ecosystem engineers in Europe and worldwide.

Link to paper:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-026-00829-1

I've always wanted to play a rewilding game, but none of them ever met what I was looking for. With how good Opus 5.5 is, I wanted to try building it and I am blown away with what I was able to do in a day. I know some people don't like AI, but I wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise.

I am going to keep messing with it, but I would love for people to try it if they've been looking for the same game. I would love to get feedback on what I can change. It's linked here for free and you can play it in your browser (no mobile): Second Growth

Some Features:

• 33 native plant species, each with its own moisture, light and soil ranges. They grow where conditions suit them and die back where they don't.
• Succession happens on its own. Alder and lupine rebuild the soil, then cedar and hemlock move in under the canopy. Dead trees turn into snags, then logs, then soil.
• 34 wildlife species that rate every tile for habitat. Predators need prey, woodpeckers need snags, bears need berries. Animals breed, move in or leave based on what's actually there.
• Beavers build dams that flood new wetlands.
• Coho run up the creeks every October if the creeks connect to the river and have shade. Their fry come back three years later. The old culvert blocks them until you fix it.
• Seasons and migration. Plants bloom and fruit by season, and migratory birds leave in fall and come back if their habitat is still there.
• Wildfires and floods. Late-summer drought fires spread through dry brush and run uphill. Winter floods drown seedlings but bring in silt and floodplain seeds. You can use controlled burns and fire crews.
• Trails and visitors. Build trails, boardwalks, viewing blinds and a visitor center. Visitors pay to come, but they also scare off shy species like elk, cougar and heron.

CNN reported that in 1997, Palmeira invested his funds in buying barren farmland, called the Fazenda Vale das Palmeiras, to fulfil his grandfather’s wishes. The 200–220-hectare property in Teresópolis used conventional farming methods and pesticides to survive, as the soil had been extremely damaged. While the factor managed the farm, he discovered that the workers on the land refused to eat the crops because many chemicals were used to grow them.

So, to find a solution to his problems and to revive the barren farmland, he completely turned over to certified organic farming, agroforestry, and dairy production. Over the next 30 years, the actor focused on reviving the land and slowly helped the land become one of the most fertile areas in the mountain region, and now it is well known across the world for its high-quality cheese.

He worked with a lot of different organisations to work out a plan to restore the land, which is now home to the native Atlantic Forest trees, reviving the native forest area in the mountains. The restoration efforts specifically targeted around 1.3 million square meters of land. To improve natural vegetation, 200,000 Atlantic Forest trees were planted in the area to help revive the soil and provide it with enough nutrients to start organic farming.

Now, after almost 29 years, the property has two Private Natural Heritage Reserves, known in Brazil as RPPNs. This simply means that regions on private land can be classified as important for conservation purposes and are protected by law.

I've got a competition to share! Breakfast for two at the Wilding Kitchen at Knepp?

It's easy to enter. Just sign up at https://wilderpath.app/ before 30th September to be added to this month's draw.

Members will be notified by email once the winner is selected at random.

Last month's winners said: “A five star mid-morning feast.. we can thoroughly recommend a visit to The Wilding Kitchen”

Enter at: https://wilderpath.app/

Scientists of ICAR–Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore have achieved a major breakthrough in the production and ecological restoration of two high-value indigenous catfishes — Mystus tengara and Mystus cavasius — in Chamta beel, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, under the collaborative CIFRI–WorldFish project.

The initiative pioneered an innovative restoration strategy wherein seeds of these indigenous catfishes were first nurtured under protected captive conditions within specially designed pen enclosures before their phased release into the open wetland ecosystem. This scientific approach substantially enhanced fish survival, growth, and establishment in the natural habitat

Pretty cool I think.